#16
1.
Light stretching as soon as I wake up.
The bed is so uncomfortable that if I don’t properly loosen up my body as soon as I get up, it’ll be a hardship all day.
Shiwoo leisurely stretched for about 15 minutes.
It’s nice that Amelia’s call allowed me to sleep in for the first time in a while, but honestly, shopping alone with her is a nerve-wracking experience.
“Ah, right.”
Shiwoo, who was loosening his back, belatedly realized something.
Yesterday, Amelia’s attitude was so meaningful that he had completely forgotten about it.
“I have to go to Tarot Town today.”
The appointment with Amelia was made the day before.
Therefore, he couldn’t give Odile and Odette any notice.
The twins would probably sneak into the mansion in Tarot Town as usual and wait for Shiwoo, who wouldn’t be coming.
“This is a big problem…”
If he stood up the twins who were so excited, the aftermath would be quite difficult to handle.
But he couldn’t ask Amelia for understanding and visit Tarot Town either.
“Well, if I explain it well, they’ll understand.”
That’s what he had to think and move on.
The only saving grace was that he had become quite close to Odile over the past few days.
Unlike Odette, who acted friendly but had a subtle distance, Odile treated Shiwoo quite like a person.
Whether that was due to simple curiosity, or respect for a human who had achieved a certain level of accomplishment in magic, no one knew.
Even the verbal threats had now subsided quite a bit.
Shiwoo put on his clothes and left the barn.
2.
To explain ‘Border Town,’ an additional explanation of the witch’s city, Gehenna, is needed.
As time passed and science developed, the places where witches could hide became increasingly narrow.
As science developed, it pushed out the mysterious, or so they say.
In the past, witches had blended into society in various roles such as prophets, diviners, magicians, priests, shamans, alchemists, and pharmacists, but they felt their position gradually narrowing.
Around the 14th century, when the persecution of the mysterious began in earnest, the great witches with great magic began to build cities for witches.
They gathered remote areas that people no longer visited, forgotten cities from long ago, like scraps of cloth, and created a large-scale barrier.
This is the untold story of how ‘the other world,’ Gehenna, a space that clearly exists but does not exist, a space that can be observed but cannot be observed, was born.
“You’re not late this time.”
Beside the magnificent fountain, with sparkling water droplets scattering, Amelia stood like a fashion model.
A unique perfume scent that he had never smelled before stung the tip of his nose.
Even though the scent was so strong, it wasn’t at all unpleasant and suited Amelia very well.
Amelia was dressed in a gown as if she were a princess from a fantasy era.
She was beautiful in any clothes, but today she was even more splendid.
She was wearing clothes adorned with jewels that were definitely not cubic zirconia.
She could go to a social gathering and dance right away without any fault.
Shiwoo swallowed the words, “Do you have to dress up so much to go to Border Town?”
Instead, he gave her a little lip service.
“You look noble today.”
“Really?”
According to Takasho, no woman ever refuses a compliment about being pretty.
Shiwoo awkwardly started the compliment.
For some reason, Amelia just glanced at him without saying anything.
Normally, she would have said something like, “Do I need your approval to be noble?”
“Yes, especially since that stuffy-looking robe is gone.”
He said it with the brightest smile he could muster, but how did it come across?
Contrary to his expectations, Amelia’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.
According to Shiwoo’s scout, that was the expression Amelia made when she felt 75 points of displeasure.
To reach 75 points of displeasure in one go.
It was a new record.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that my mentor’s keepsake looked stuffy.”
Ah, right, damn it.
He was so focused on complimenting her that he missed the fact he clearly knew.
Before Shiwoo, flustered, could say anything, Amelia made the first move.
“It’s okay, it’s not like I dressed up to look good to the caretaker. Absolutely not.”
She turned her back as if he wasn’t worth talking to anymore and headed towards the west faculty building.
Her neatly braided blonde hair swayed from side to side like a horse’s tail.
Indeed, people shouldn’t do things that don’t suit them.
Shiwoo quietly followed Amelia, blaming himself for his painful mistake.
Gehenna is quite large because it has been gradually expanding by gathering land since it was first created.
He didn’t know the exact size, but it was said to be about the size of Jeju Island.
To get from the academy in the center of Gehenna to Border Town at the edge of Gehenna, it would take at least a full day by carriage.
To eliminate this inconvenience, the witches installed portals to travel to and from Gehenna.
It was a magical device that utilized the ‘door’ in Border Town.
“Hello, Associate Professor Amelia.”
“Two round-trip tickets to Border Town, please.”
A receptionist wearing glasses stood up from her seat and bowed.
She was a fairly young witch who worked as a researcher and portal management receptionist.
For a witch, the expression “young” meant that she had inherited a newly created mark and had not been a witch for very long.
Perhaps that was why the receptionist’s attitude was so polite, like a commoner meeting a princess.
After finishing her greeting, the receptionist looked at Shiwoo with a puzzled expression.
“Are you going with her?”
“Yes.”
It was indeed unusual.
Usually, among the witches living in the upper towns, there were hardly any cases of them directly going to Border Town.
So usually, Shiwoo would pay the fare and go alone.
But today, Amelia, who was said to be confined to the research building, was accompanying him.
“Is there a problem?”
“Ah…! No, it’s nothing! The fare is 2 pounds per person.”
As expected of Amelia.
Just with a slightly irritable voice, she can make other witches shut their mouths.
Amelia reached out and placed four clinking gold coins in the receptionist’s hand.
“Go down the fourth staircase.”
Amelia walked away without looking back, and only Siwoo bowed and followed her down.
This portal is quite an interesting structure.
The stone staircase, which looks like a path down to a wine cellar, extends underground, and about halfway down, there is water lapping.
Of course, it’s not ordinary water, but a very dilute magical water, so it glows faintly, as if it were inhabited by bioluminescent plankton.
It’s a strange water that doesn’t hinder breathing and doesn’t wet clothes.
Watching Amelia’s back, already submerged up to her head, Siwoo slowly walks down.
If you go down the stairs in a V-shape, there are stairs going up almost immediately, and those stairs are the portal connected to Border Town.
With a slight dizzy spell, Siwoo stepped into Border Town.
3.
Amelia looked at Siwoo, who was retching from portal sickness, with a pathetic gaze.
It seems that he can’t get used to this sensation, having only experienced it about three times.
“Caregiver, why don’t you just go throw up?”
“Ah, no… I’m fine now.”
Amelia shook off the magic water droplets rolling on her clothes and continued up the stairs.
Compared to the academy’s platform, which at least had some semblance of order, Border Town’s platform was utterly shabby.
“Wow…”
As soon as he stepped out of the platform, which looked like a half-collapsed temple, Siwoo couldn’t help but be amazed.
Border Town, where the canyon facing the harbor is carved in a terraced fashion.
Mossy cliffs form huge layers, providing a place for people to live.
The atmosphere, filled with smog and sea fog, blocks the sunlight, so the weather in Border Town is always cloudy or drizzly.
The work rain gear that Siwoo hates so much is a necessity here.
The location of the portal platform was the highest point in Border Town, so Siwoo could look down at the entire landscape.
The cliffs that form a horseshoe shape, surrounding the harbor, and the people living and building on them are spectacular, but what overwhelms Siwoo the most is the huge circle, 2 km in diameter, over the sea.
Otherwise known as ‘the Gate’.
Inside, large and small smuggler ships were moving goods.
Some ships would have goods brought from the modern world, some would have slaves like Siwoo who were captured, and some would have various foodstuffs to be supplied to the town’s citizens.
They can’t be self-sufficient with just the crops produced in Gehenna.
That’s right.
The meaning of Border Town is ‘boundary’.
It was a town that connected the other world, Gehenna, and the modern world.
“By the way, Associate Professor, what are you here to buy today?”
Siwoo asked, looking at the people moving like ants in the distance at the harbor.
“Cigarettes, and perfume.”
It was less than he expected.
If that’s all, Siwoo could have been sent alone.
She didn’t really bring him here on a date, did she?
“We need to go to the Blue Serpent contact point, so follow me.”
“Yes.”
As soon as Amelia started walking, Siwoo put up the large umbrella he had brought for her.
Of course, it wasn’t the image of a sweet couple sharing an umbrella.
Siwoo had to hold it up for Amelia alone while getting rained on himself.
“Come to think of it, Associate Professor.”
She wouldn’t need to go around the winding path on the cliff.
She could use magic to jump down and land in the middle of the harbor.
Or she could use flying magic.
“If you go ahead, I’ll catch up by jumping soon.”
Actually, it was a suggestion because he wanted to get away from this scary lady even for a moment.
It wasn’t a difficult thing to say, but Amelia had a blank expression for a moment.
Thinking he might have made another mistake, he quickly added.
“Wouldn’t the beautiful dress you’re wearing get wet in the rain?”
“……..”
But Amelia only had a knowing look and didn’t answer.
It’s been over five years since he’s been tossed around by her, but it’s the first time he’s seen that kind of face.
As cold sweat ran down his spine, Amelia let out a light sigh.
“Haa…”
“I’m sorry.”
He didn’t know what it was, but.
He was sorry anyway.
“Stop talking back. It’s annoying.”
“Yes.”
Siwoo shut his mouth and followed behind Amelia, holding the umbrella over her.
There were hardly any people in the highlands, but as they came down to the middle levels, there were quite a few people.
A gruff, muscular man wearing a sack instead of rain gear.
A skinny young man who, if he were holding an AK rifle, you would believe was a pirate.
A seemingly gloomy old woman.
Maybe it’s because people don’t get any sunlight, but they all looked gloomy and sinister.
In fact, walking through Border Town, which perfectly matched the word dystopian fantasy, as a slave was a bit scary.
So when Siwoo came alone, he finished his business as quickly as possible and returned.
Without any time to look around.
But at least now, he had no worries.
As our Amelia Marigold professor passed by like a beacon, everyone bowed their heads and looked away, so there was no better bodyguard.
“Caregiver.”
Siwoo turned his head at Amelia’s chilling voice and was shocked.
While he was distracted by looking around, the water droplets at the end of the umbrella were dripping onto Amelia’s crown.
Siwoo was nervous about what kind of scolding he would get this time.
“Hold the umbrella properly.”
Fortunately, Amelia was strangely lenient today.
She evaporated the water with magic and let it go without a word.
